Moving the existing breadboard application to a soldered one was easier than before…the hardest was to find a suitable timeframe when I can start working on it.
drilling holes
I’ve ordered a small box earlier(and was hanging around without any purpose); because I don’t really had strict size contrains or ergonomical requirements for it - I decided to use it.
I decided to use 3 dc jacks to connect:
- the upstream ac/dc converter
- the other arduinos power
- the controlled led strip
I’ve ordered some pcb mountable plugs.. so i figured out where I want them, and drilled the 3x3 holes for them .. they werent aligned with the hole spacing or size either…so i guess i wont be using them next year time..
Drilling the 3 holes for the dc jacks into the box’s side was pretty awful: drilling plastic is a nightmare…and when the boxes side is not straight entirely - that just makes it harder…maybe I need better tools…but because I dont have access to a workshop - i’ve drilled on the floor…
designing the layout
I’ve started with printing some “dot matrix grid” which allowed me to plan the component placement and connections between them…(I even placed them on it to see what I might missed)
After deciding the layout i’ve drawn the layout:
soldering
It went pretty well…what i really miss is a good cable blanking tool; i’ve already ordered one fron fasttech..but i guess I’ve ordered a too large one…
When I plugged in the 3.3 stepdown it didnt fit as I expected…because it touches a cap on the other module…next time I will either solder it directly; or at least I should take into account its pcb size when I design the layout…it can be clearly seen on the picture:
You might notice that the 3 dc jacks are not equally spaced…well, when i drilled those holes i have misplaced hole ;)
I know that i’m just an enthusiastic amateur doing some soldering…but I must say that it looks like i’m getting better in this thing:
testing
Because i had already loaded the remote controlled firmware, I’ve just plugged all in and tested it…it worked just like on the breadboard… ;)
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